Ray Fisher stories, Page 29

Quaker Valley basketball players Adou Thiero and Markus Frank have established themselves as one of the top tandems in Western Pennsylvania. They are two of the premier players in the WPIAL. Both are 6-foot-5 and both are 1,000-point career scorers. As of Jan. 25, Thiero and Frank led QV to...

Heather Border and athletics go hand in hand. She has spent almost her entire life dedicated to sports, first as a three-sport athlete, then as a coach, and now as an administrator and coach. Border, 45, is the assistant athletic director at Sewickley Academy, a role that began in 2001....

After treading water through the first half of their Section 4-5A basketball schedule, the Hampton Talbots were looking to make a big splash and strong playoff push down the season’s home stretch Hampton posted a 3-3 section record through mid-January, flip-flopping wins and losses against Plum, Highlands, Armstrong, Shaler, Indiana...

It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Greensburg Salem junior Luke Shevchik. Although, in hindsight, he hopes not. Shevchik tossed a perfect 300 game Jan. 7 at Main Bowling Center against section rival Latrobe, sparking the Golden Lions to a 7-0 victory. “As a coach it was a wonderful experience to...

Quaker Valley wrestlers Mason Diemert and Jack Kazalas displayed their tenacity and mettle at the Allegheny County championships held Jan. 14-15 at Fox Chapel. Both won county titles in impressive fashion. Diemert, a senior, secured a pin in 1 minute, 49 seconds against Montour’s Aaron DeLuca in the 172-pound final...

It was an inauspicious start to the new year for the Quaker Valley hockey team. After reeling off nine consecutive victories in the first half of the season, QV dropped consecutive decisions to Moon, 5-1, North Catholic, 4-3, and North Hills, 4-3, in early January. The Quakers, nonetheless, maintained a...

It was a much-anticipated night at Thomas Jefferson. TJ hoopster Graci Fairman eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for career scoring Jan. 7 during her team’s 49-23 section win at home against Uniontown. The 5-foot-5 senior point guard connected on a trey from the corner early in the third quarter to become...

The Baldwin boys basketball team registered one of its biggest wins in recent memory, socking host Bethel Park, 86-66, on Jan. 18 in a pivotal Section 2-6A game. James Wesling, a 6-foot-1 sharp-shooting junior guard, was sensational for the Highlanders, pouring in a career-high 48 points. The Highlanders’ 20-point victory...

Bethel Park athletics is a top-level organization. I have been covering high school sports for more than 40 years, mainly in South Hills communities, but one of the schools outside my coverage area was Bethel Park. Not anymore. The Bethel Park monthly is in its rookie season, and I’ve been...

Bethel Park’s Mason Kernan kept his sensational sophomore season intact at the Allegheny County championships held Jan. 14-15 at Fox Chapel. Kernan, competing at 120 pounds, captured a county title with a 6-5 win against Pine-Richland’s Dominic Ferraro in the championship bout. With the victory, Kernan extended his record this...

Bethel Park’s tall and talented boys basketball team made noise on the court early and often in the first half of the 2021-22 season. The Black Hawks won 10 of their first 11 games, including a 48-44 section victory Jan. 11 at home against Upper St. Clair. “Our greatest strength...

The Burrell swim teams still are recovering from last year’s pandemic. “We are just happy to have a full season,” coach Samantha Callen said. “Last year was quite challenging. Our swimmers have been working extra hard to achieve the goals that were not met last year. This season is going...

Desirae Nance and Rinnie Jardini have something in common. Both lead by example. The two talented hoopsters led the Sewickley Academy girls basketball team to a successful 2-1 start in Section 1-2A this season. Sewickley coach Mark Gaither is highly appreciative of having Nance and Jardini in leadership roles on...

Quaker Valley dominated the 16-team field at this year’s Ed Driscoll MAC wrestling tournament. The Quakers took first place with 223 team points, well ahead of their closest challengers, West Allegheny (176), Laurel (169.5), Montour (162) and Central Valley (98). It was QV’s first team championship in the MAC event....

The Apollo-Ridge bowlers enjoyed the holiday break thanks to their five wins in six decisions in December. The boys team, coached by George Galo, stood in first place in WPIBL Northeast Section 5 with a 3-0 record. The girls, coached Michelle Cominos, were in second place at 2-1. “Both teams...

Quaker Valley finished with a 6-11 record in the PIHL Varsity A Southwest Division last season. That didn’t sit well with the Quakers. The postseason absence provided QV with the impetus for a comeback this year. Through nine games, QV was undefeated and comfortably atop the Varsity A Northwest Division....

Dreams, whether big or small, do come true. Just ask Leetsdale’s Isabella DeGori. “Playing college softball has been a dream of mine,” DeGori said. “Due to the pandemic, college recruiting for the class of 2022 was cut short. I’ve ran into a lot of dead ends with the recruiting and...

The date will be etched into Kiski Area bowling annals. On Dec. 15, the Kiski Area girls team defeated host Butler at Family-Bowl-A-Way, 7-0, to log the program’s first-ever win against a full-squad opponent. The Cavaliers were led by the fivesome of Veronica Flanagan, Alyssa Leya, Savannah Renwick, Haley Zeller...

The trip has been in the planning stages since the summer months. Now, it is a reality. Burrell freshman Miley Kariotis and middle schooler McKenna Miller earned positions on Futsal USA National teams currently competing in an international soccer tournament in Madrid, Spain. Miley Kariotis, 14, is an all-section midfielder...

Freeport bowling is synonymous with winning, as both the girls and boys teams captured section titles last year. The girls posted a 10-0 record in 2020-21, placed fourth at the WPIBL championships, won the regional team championship and finished fourth at the state tournament. The Yellowjackets are 3-0 this season...

Slippery Rock’s Chad Kuhn fit the mold. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound high-energy defensive end was one of eight national finalists for the 2021 Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year Award, presented annually by the Manheim Touchdown Club. Kuhn’s strength, speed, mobility and ruggedness on the gridiron, along with a...

Quaker Valley’s wrestling goals for 2021-22 are three-fold. The Quakers aim to win another section title, qualify for the PIAA team tournament and have multiple individual state qualifiers. With 11 returning starters and four Division I prospects, coach Mike Heinl believes all three are attainable. “We want to stay healthy,...

The 2020-21 season proved to be a banner year for the Quaker Valley swimming and diving program. The QV girls team won its second consecutive section title and finished 7-0 overall, breaking several team records in the process. And coach John Nemeth is looking for matching results in 2021-22. “We...

Kiski Area’s Eliza Miller capped her successful cross country season with a bold exclamation point. The talented sophomore athlete placed eighth at the Nike New York/Northeast Regional Championships held Nov. 27 at Bowdoin Park, Wappingers Falls. “This was my first year running at Nike for high school,” Miller said. “I...

Sewickley Academy’s road gear is firmly in place. The SA boys basketball team is not slated to play its first home game until Jan. 7 in a section test with Springdale. It’s the exact opposite of last year when SA did not compete in an away game until mid-January. Of...